President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that there are Russians present in Pokrovsk, but they are being eliminated by Ukrainian troops. As of the morning of 31 October, there have been no significant changes in the city, no encirclement has been recorded, and the situation is under the control of the Ukrainian Defence Forces.
The head of state announced this during a briefing broadcast by Yedyny Novyny.
“The situation in Pokrovsk is complicated. All their forces are there. You know that 170,000 enemy troops are concentrated in this area. That’s a lot. I spoke with the commander-in-chief this morning — there are no changes in Pokrovsk. There are Russians in Pokrovsk. Our forces are destroying them, destroying them little by little — because we also have to protect our personnel,” he said.
Zelensky emphasised that Pokrovsk is not surrounded at present and that the situation there is under the control of Ukrainian forces.
SBU Chairman Vasyl Malyuk noted that the Russians declared the capture of Pokrovsk a year and three months ago. According to him, during this time they have advanced 7 km.
‘But they have lost tens and tens of thousands killed. I am not even counting the wounded,’ he said.
For his part, the President stressed that when analysing the military situation, it is important to look at what is happening on both sides.
“They (the Russians) dominate with drones and control logistics with drones. But at the same time, you must understand that we also dominate with drones on the other side and also block their logistics. And if we say that our guys (…) are walking 5-10 km on foot (when there is a saturation of drones, the guys will not be transported by equipment), then you have to look at the other side and understand where the Russians are walking from. You will see that they are walking somewhere in the area of 25-30 km,” Zelensky said.
The head of state stressed that a difficult battle is now underway for Pokrovsk, which the Russians are eager to take at any cost. According to the President, the Russians have failed to take Sumy, Kupiansk, Dobropillia, and Zaporizhzhia.